Different Than What It Seems
by LustForTheLetters
Summary: A collection of short stories and one-shots about the eccentric and lovable characters from Hillwood. Some are written of seriousness, and some are written of silliness. Highest rating will be rated T.
1. Bread and Butter

**(A/N) Hello there! So, this is my first Hey Arnold! fanfiction, even though I have been reading Hey Arnold! fanfiction for a really long time haha. Anyways, criticism is greatly appreciated, I hope you enjoy these :) Please let me know if I make anybody OOC, I really want to know! **

She would never say it out loud, but she always admired the way he would trace the numbers on his jersey.

She smiled from behind those thick glasses of hers, occasionally glancing from her schoolwork up towards the other boy in the middle of the class, the hairstyle immediately giving away his appearance, and she honestly couldn't help but think to herself about how...interesting the other boy was. They didn't talk that much, she knew, but what she did know was that he was a pretty cool boy, especially since they were only in the fourth grade and didn't really think too much about love or being more than friends.

Her pencil drummed a beat against the desk, her legs kicked out in rhythm to a song being stuck in her head, and all she could see was the doodles of hearts around where she wrote her name on her math paper. Infatuated? She preferred the word admired, because who couldn't be when the thought of the basketball loving boy named Gerald came to their minds? Almost impossible not to think of him, she knew, and she smiled as, for some reason, the paper didn't even really distract her anymore.

The bell rang, and everybody left for recess, but for some strange reason, Gerald didn't remove himself from the classroom. He looked very intent on getting something done, was it extra credit? The Japanese girl wasn't sure what to think, but staring didn't seem like a good idea, even though she wouldn't have minded giving the effort.

She smiled softly to herself before leaving the class and walking over to her locker. In all honesty, she couldn't have even wanted to stop humming, even if she tried. She had felt this way for a long time, so of course it was normal to think the way she did about the other boy. There was so many great things to like about Gerald, she didn't know why the other girls didn't take a liking to him. His humor, for one thing, was something that really sparked her attention. It was the simple way he spoke that made her laugh, even when nothing was really funny. It made her have this really good, light-hearted feeling in her chest the more she actually thought about it, and her fingers touched the lock of her locker on pure instinct rather than knowing it was there.

She was distracted, just walking through the hallways of the school looking somewhat of a fool rather than the smartest girl of her grade which she definitely was without a doubt. Not being able to help it, she simply sighed as she opened the locker and placed her binders inside, alphabetically, just the way she liked it.

The warm sun greeted her as the small girl walked outside and saw her friends playing at the playground. It seemed like a normal afternoon, at least to her anyway, but she couldn't get the thought of him staying in the classroom out of her mind. Why did he stay inside? Was he working on something really important? It was none of her business, she knew, but she sincerely hoped that nothing bad was going on, and before she could go over to where the other girls were at, on the bench, a familiar sight for sore eyes walked up to where she was. Her blonde pigtails bounced almost comically as Helga walked over to where Phoebe was and stretched her arm around her neck to relieve the aches of her muscles from an earlier session of baseball. The face Helga was showing could only mean she was interested in something, or maybe someone instead?

Phoebe could have laughed at knowing that Helga wasn't as slick as she seemed. As to how Arnold was such naive in the way the other girl felt towards him was unknown for the asian, and she knew that Helga didn't even realize that Phoebe had known all along that Helga felt such longings towards him. She really needed to look around once and awhile before starting her legendary monologues, and the littler girl smiled to herself at the faint memory of Helga hiding behind a trash can and reciting one of her love poems out loud in the cold wintery air.

She was clueless, she knew, but that was one Helga's interesting traits.

"Pheebs, I got an idea to show that primp fashionista who is boss around here, whatdya say?" The blonde exclaimed, her one eyebrow curving to show her own dark intentions, and Phoebe smiled. Same old classic Helga.

"Um, sure, Helga..but may I ask as to why Rhonda?"

Helga looked like she would laugh, but her smirk seemed to take care of that for her. Phoebe knew that, whatever it was, it must have been pretty important to make Helga this sure of herself. However, to her surprise, the other simply shrugged and smirked wider. Both girls laughed as Helga stood on top of the picnic table and flung her arms around, to prove that she truly felt as though she was on top of the world. She placed her hand on her hips and began to move her body in a fashion that was supposed to copy off of the Wellington girl, Phoebe guessed, and Helga stuck out her lips to show she was trying to be like Rhonda.

"Oh, but Mother, what do you mean I can't have the pair of shoes? I mean, even though I have a billion of those exact same kind, you can never have too much stuff when you're rich, right?"

The other girl smiled and laughed at Helga's imitations, and the taller girl noticed the laughter as a sign of approval. She couldn't help but continue.

"Daddy, don't you think it's about time I can let a boy come over? It will only be for a little while, I will make sure for him to give you a thousand dollar gift as a thank-you gift. No? You don't want that? Oh, well, I guess I will have to double it, won't I? Wait, you mean you don't want the boy to come over? Well, daddy, I never get anything I want!"

She pitched her voice to sound like Rhonda, and the laughter that Phoebe once had turned hysterical. Tears were coming down from the humor of it all, and Helga felt the need to continue now that she had come so far.

"_Ugh, Curly_! What have I told you, time and time before?! Do not stop on my hundred dollar sandals, they came from Yorkshire and the finest factories in the business! And, for the millionth time, I do not love you, you filthy bags of parasites! Disgusting!"

Phoebe gripped the table edge to keep herself from falling unconscious due to the laughter, and the blonde pig-tailed girl removed herself from the table with her arms crossed, pleased of herself. She smirked towards her best friend as she waited for the laughter to calm down, but she had to admit she wanted to laugh as well. She knew her intimidating of their classmates always brought the other girl's mood up a lot, and the taller girl leaned back onto the table as the laughter brought down a little, but a familiar sight for the blonde girl immediately made her freeze up. Phoebe noticed, and she probably didn't even have to guess who cause the reaction, because he made his way up to where the other two girls were with a genuine look on his face. He didn't look that happy, though.

"Helga? What are you doing?"

Arnold's voice broke through Helga like a knife, Phoebe could tell, and a slight blush came upon the other girl's face at the possibility of Arnold overhearing her mimicking. The green-eyed boy smiled slightly at noticing the same blush come on her face, but the unhappiness he held was will present.

"Nothing, football head! Quit barging into my business," Helga yelled, storming away and leaving the two other kids with confusion on their faces.

Typical for her, Phoebe thought, to run from Arnold such as that way. Deep down, she knew, it killed her inside. Arnold sighed before giving off a smile in her direction and speaking directly to Phoebe.

"She's always like that, isn't she?" He asked, and Phoebe giggled while nodding.

"That's Helga for you," she responded, and the other boy smiled warmly at knowing that. It had only been a few days, actually, since Arnold saved the neighborhood, but Helga and Arnold have been treating each other differently since then. While Helga still remained as stubborn as ever, she felt a lot more flustered around the shorter boy, and they honestly argued a lot less often. Phoebe wondered if something happened during the neighborhood rescue that caused them to act this way towards each other, but before she could think about it anymore, Arnold looked back with a sincere look on his face.

"Listen, Phoebe, the reason why I wanted to talk to you is because...well, see, Gerald is a little bit behind on his grades. I was wondering if maybe you could help him...if you don't mind, that is."

Phoebe's heart thumped lightly against her chest as the thought came to her mind. Her, helping Gerald with schoolwork? The two things she enjoyed the most? A smile came onto her face, from ear to ear, as the young girl nodded happily as a response. Arnold nodded and smiled appreciatively before turning away and joining Stinky and Sid back on the monkeybars, and Phoebe almost jogged into the school building, she was too excited for anything else.

She ran into the classroom she was once in to find Gerald, the exact spot he was in before, struggling to get through some of the problems on his piece of paper. The usually shy girl smiled lightly, pushing her glasses up and pulling in a seat next to him. Gerald noticed and raised his eyes to where the other pair of eyes were before smiling and noticing the other girl. Phoebe hesitated slightly before saying what was on her mind.  
"Gerald...sorry to intrude, but Arnold told me you might need some help on your homework?"  
The blush, she knew, made its way onto her face as she pulled a strand of her black hair behind her ear and watched as the African-American boy smiled back with the cool look of his.  
"You know, Phoebe, that would be pretty nice." The boy responded, and Phoebe couldn't help but smile even more as she pulled out a pencil and started to work.

Later on that afternoon, before the school day was over, Gerald met Phoebe by her locker. The young girl was pulling out her school supplies before noticing that the boy was there, and she giggled as Gerald smiled while helping her take out her stuff and carrying them for her.  
"Just wanted to say thanks...you know, for the help." Gerald whispered, and Phoebe smiled for the biggest time she could possibly remember, before taking a daring move and intertwining her fingers with Gerald's, and the two could only smile at each other before leaving the school, hands locked and hearts mad.


	2. A Girl's Bitterness is Often Secreted

**[A/N} - Hey guys! Thanks for the review, and thanks for the views! It really makes me happy to know people like my writing. Anyways, I wanted to ask: After you read this one-shot, will you please tell me if the characters act OOC or not? I really want to know, so I don't mess up in the future if I had in this chapter! Thanks, and reviews make me happy, so please leave feedback if you want :-)**

Normally, she wasn't interested in the other girl's affairs, but this time it was different.

Lila noticed that a certain pig-tailed girl was sitting in a rather melancholy way near the classroom of their math class, just staring out the window and saying nothing. All that the braided girl could see was the occasional flick of the pencil from her desk, the way her blue eyes would avert from the teacher back to the cloudy afternoon sky rather quickly, as though she was meaning to be distracted on purpose. Helga normally would at least pay attention to the classes, or at least she would when they were younger, but since they entered middle school it was completely different, and Lila wasn't exactly sure why. She could only watch as the other girl continued to act this way, sad and depressed, and while happiness wasn't really Helga's cup of tea, it was certainly different than how she was experiencing life now.

The freckled girl rested her head in her hands as the class began to close, with the bell ringing and everybody going to lunch. As the kids were leaving, and as Lila was reaching out and grabbing her stuff, she noticed that Helga didn't bother to get up. The blonde remained in her seat, staring out the window and looking as though she was reaching out for her notebook, but as her fingers touched the cover, they stopped. Lila stood there, curious, and the other girl could feel her staring from across the room. She didn't hesitate to snap up and send a characteristic scowl.

"What do _you_ want?" She asked, simply, and Lila waved her hands as though she didn't have a clue herself.

"Nothing, Helga! I was just getting my stuff and leaving..."

Helga simply sighed, annoyed, before turning around again and continuing to look out the window. Lila didn't take an extra second to grab her stuff and head out of the room before walking out of the cafeteria.

Helga was different, that was for sure, but that didn't really mean she acted completely unusual. She still had her stubborn and headstrong personality, with the scowls and snarls doubling than in elementary, and she changed a lot in physical appearance too. Her unibrow was still there, but she had certainly gotten taller, and her hair was a lot longer too. Then again, her hair had always been pretty long, and the pigtail phase was still there. Pink and white were still her normal colors for clothing, and of course, the bow? As if Helga would give up something as traditional as that. Lila smiled and shook her head at knowing that everyone had changed.

The cafeteria was practically buzzing when Lila opened the doors and found all her friends sitting in the same round table they did everyday, and she quickly sat down near them with her lunchbag in her hands. Phoebe was sitting right next to her, and the smaller of the two looked around frantically to see where the pig-tailed girl was. Even after all this time, they still continued to be best friends.

"Do any of you guys know where Helga is?" The Japanese girl asked, and the other girls sitting at the table shook their heads in response, except for the green-eyed girl who bit her lower lip in knowing. She was going to say where Helga was, but Rhonda quickly beat her to commenting.

"She's always locked away in the classroom right after the bell rings. It's almost _freaky_ how often she spends her time in there. I mean, I know Arnold stayed in the jungle with his parents and everything, but that doesn't mean you have to go be a baby about it all the time."

The asian girl and Lila both felt bitter about what Rhonda said, and even it was an awfully rude way to express it, they did admit it had to be true. Helga did feel really sad after the first few weeks that Arnold wasn't at the school, and it wasn't hard to notice. Their relationship actually escalated a lot after the rescue, and Arnold did stay in Hillwood for a little while before heading back into the jungle, but since he left...everybody knew Helga became a disaster. Lila wondered...was that the reason, perhaps, why she acted so different then?

Phoebe sighed, pushing back some of her hair and trying not to lash out in anger.

"Rhonda, you have to remember that it's only been a while since Arnold left...maybe Helga is just getting used to it?"

The rich girl wanted to laugh, it was evident to Lila. Typically, the girl herself didn't really think about stuff all the way through, such as Phoebe did, and right now it certainly felt as though Rhonda couldn't really understand the situation herself. She didn't know what it felt like to have loved somebody for so long and to have them suddenly taken away from you once you finally had their chance with them, since all the romance she ever had was with a boy that was too obsessed with her for words to express. It would be understandable why Phoebe would be angry with her, and the rich girl simply sneered before taking a bite from her sandwich. Awkward emotions filled the area around them as Lila took the apple from her lunch bag and simply stared at the bright color from it. Honestly, they shouldn't have even brought up the other girl, considering it would bring problems for all of them, and the braided girl twisted the fruit lightly in her palm.

It was that way until the bell rang once again, now that the lunch break was over, and the next class neared them. Lila came to the conclusion she must talk to Helga about this before the day's end, to know what was troubling her and how she could help.

* * *

Lila walked into the final class after coming back from her locker to find that Helga was the only one in the room, as she suspected. She was writing, and her blue eyes traced the lines of her notebook, as though she was heavily interested in what she was printing on the pages. The auburn-haired girl was always intrigued at the other girl's amazing sense of poetry and awareness, and now, Lila was even more so than before. The girl coughed into the air to break through Helga's attention, and the blonde glanced back, startled and slightly angry to see the girl standing in the open space. The familiar scowl that was on her face earlier quickly came back, and Helga sighed impatiently.

"Lila? I already asked you what you wanted earlier...so why did you even bother to come back?"

The braided girl simply smiled as she sat on the top of a desk closely where Helga was, and she giggled as her eyes met those of blue. The two girls stared at each other, different in emotion and feeling, and Helga's impatience was only growing shorter and shorter. Lila could clearly tell that Helga felt too busy with her literature than to focus her time and energy into someone she barely knew, but she hoped that Helga would at least feel a little at ease with her, since she's trying to make her feel more relaxed

"I just wanted to talk to you, Helga. It seems you have been ever so...well, troubled."

The sincere smile baffled Helga. Was Lila trying to tease her?

"What I am feeling is no concern of yours, _Lila_." The blonde girl make the other girl's name longer than it usually was, since she always had a tendency to do things like that. "Besides, there's nothing wrong with me. Whatever gave you that idea?"

"I just noticed you always looking out the window and seeming sad. I didn't know if you were okay or not..I just wanted to make sure you were alright."

Lila watched as Helga shifted uncomfortably in her seat, lightly putting her pen back down on the notebook and not taking her fierce gaze off of the other girl's.

"Well, I am fine. Handy dandy, nothing wrong with me, just...leave, okay?"

The pig-tailed girl moved her hand in the air, as if to shoo the other girl away, and Lila could take a hint pretty clearly. She sighed before picking herself up and moving towards the door, only stopping midway to bring up the subject that she would probably regret bringing up the most. It was a worth a shot, she thought, and she grabbed the side of the door before opening her mouth to speak.

"You don't suppose...this could be about Arnold, do you?"

The breath of the blonde girl stopping could be heard, and Lila eyes turned back in knowing she had Helga right where she wanted her. The other girl, however, didn't seem so pleased. In fact, she was almost completely infuriated.

"What did you say?"

Lila could feel her heart pound, anxious of what to say in response, but her mouth mumbled the words she thought she wasn't going to respond with.

"Arnold...I know how you feel about him...how you've always felt. You were...ever so in love with him, and I remember the day you told me...the school play was around that time wasn't it?"

Blue locked onto green as Helga quickly stood from her seat and neared the other girl, her face pressed into a mixture of anger and sadness. Lila actually had to back up so that when Helga neared her, it wasn't too close, and eventually, Lila was pinned up against a nearby wall as the pen Helga was using earlier was in her face, pointed like a weapon. Helga's temper really showed itself when provoked.

"_No_. You don't understand. How can you, of all people, to understand what I am going through?" Helga tried desperately not to cave into her feelings of remorse, and her blue eyes shielded the urge to break down and cry.

"Helga, please..."

"He was always...you two were always...it made me mad. I remember, and I would try..._so_ damn hard to make it seem like you two weren't...he was in love with you, not me, for so long...and then, when he finally accepted me as the person to love, he left me alone to be in the jungle with his parents...the ones he didn't see for so long..."

Helga turned her head away so that the two girls couldn't share eye contact, but she continued regardless.

"How can you expect to know anything about our love, when you disregarded him so many times? Just leave well enough alone!"

The girl now couldn't help herself but to shed some tears. Wide eyed and aghast, Lila watched Helga moved her arms on her eyes, as if to wipe the tears and pretend they weren't there, but Lila couldn't really think about what to say or what to do to make the other girl feel better. This was the most vulnerable the braided girl had ever seen of Helga, and while the atmosphere was slightly awkward, Lila couldn't help herself but to outreach her hand and touch Helga's arm gingerly, to soothe her. The crying stiffened, and Helga raised her eyes to find a slight smile form on the redhead's lips.

"Please don't cry, Helga. I was only trying to see if I could help, if you really want me to leave...I will go."

Lila sighed before raising herself off of the wall she was pinned against and started to walk away, her bag clutched in her hands and her eyes covered by her auburn bangs. Helga sniffed slightly while raising her eyes over to where Lila was, and her pride was still strong, yet slightly shattered. She didn't mean to treat Lila that badly, even if Lila kind of brought it to herself, and the blonde couldn't help but call out to her.

"Lila, wait!"

Stopping in her track, the girl being called out to turned around and faced her eyes onto where Helga was. The blonde walked to where Lila stood, before sighed and wiping some of her tears off once again. She knew she looked like a complete mess this way, in front of the one girl she swore she would never come clean to. She wondered why Lila would even bother, Lila had Arnie. She really couldn't comprehend what it felt like to love someone for so long, them barely knowing who you were, and in a negative way too, and it have them suddenly taken away from you. Why did she even care about Helga's feelings?

"Lila...I'm sorry." She gritted her teeth at knowing apologizing wasn't something she was known for doing a lot.

"I just...I just really miss him. I know that he hasn't seen his parents, and he wants to be closer to them...I can understand that, I just didn't think he would actually leave Hillwood...he would actually leave me for something like that. I tell myself I should let it be, but I keep thinking about him and the thought of him won't leave me alone. What if he never comes back?"

Her voice softened, and her eyes met the ground as though she might have already known the answer. Lila felt immediately sympathized with Helga, and she definitely wanted her to feel better about the whole situation. She smiled more before pulling out a handkerchief from her handbag, giving it to Helga and watching the blonde give a confused look.

"What's this for?"

Lila giggled slightly at the girl's oblivious question.

"It's for wiping your eyes, silly. They look ever so sad."

Helga averted her eyes from the piece of cloth to where Lila's were, and for once of the whole, Helga actually smiled slightly. It was true that she and Lila didn't really get along, but when Lila acted this way, Helga couldn't help but think she was actually pretty cool.

"Thanks, Lila."


	3. The Sun to His Sky

**Thanks for the wonderful feedback from my two reviewers, and all the favorites and followers! I love writing these one-shots, so seeing people respond the way they do makes me ever so happy. Yup, this is Lila writing this intro...if you couldn't already tell :P**

**I love the Harold and Rhonda relationship. In fact, I actually like their relationship more than Patty and Harold. Don't get me wrong, I love, love, love the Patty and Harold relationship, but I like Harold and Rhonda one slightly more. I don't know if I am the only one, though haha. Anyways, thanks for the feedback, and tell me what you guys think!  
**

"Do you like ice cream?"

This question, innocent and pure-hearted, captured the attention of the girl with the short black hair and the casual red dress, far too elegant to dress otherwise and far too sophisticated to care what others had to say. Actually, she took that back, she needed the attention from other people to fill her ego, to make her feel glad about herself. Although this boy was asking her the question, and even though she honestly didn't want to talk to him, she did have to admit that someone was better than nobody, and with Harold...she could say that _barely_ wasn't an exception.

"Of _course_ I like ice cream, who doesn't?" Rhonda replied, flipping her hair and keeping her eyesight on her new manicure rather than the boy's eyes.

There was a hesitant moment hanging in the air, as though Harold would try to give up and walk away, but the chubby boy refused to give up at this point of time.

He had liked Rhonda for a while, and he was ready to show that, but whether or not Rhonda would be content with his confession was something he had to take into consideration. They knew each other decently well, even though he couldn't say that they knew each other well enough to start a relationship, so judging on that information alone was enough for Harold to give it quits, but he also knew that Rhonda was someone special, like a single diamond in a mile full of caves, so it really wasn't an option to let her go. At least, not yet. He had to try.

"Probably...probably _stupid_ people. I mean, ice cream is the best food ever!"

The girl smirked slightly at the characteristic whiny voice that followed. It would be in the boy's nature to be excited about food, considering that was pretty much all he ever thought about, but the question that hung in the air like a wet towel did bring something to her mind, and that was the fact that Harold asked her the question in the first place. He probably already knew that she liked ice cream, so why did he even bother asking? It might have been just to waste her time, since he always tended to do that with her, and the girl could do nothing but bask in the fact that this entire conversation could be a waste of time in itself.

However, when she noticed that Harold actually pulled some money out from his jean pocket, she couldn't help but be more interested. True, the sight of money helped ease the atmosphere, but there was something about the _way_ he pulled it out that caught the eyes of the petite girl, and Rhonda couldn't do anything but give off a look of bafflement as the bigger boy gave off a look of awkwardness. However, it wasn't an awkward look that was bad or anything, in fact Rhonda actually thought it quite adorable, and the flushed cheeks of Harold's only grew brighter as he thrust out the money in his palm and closed his eyes.

"L-listen, Rhonda...I want to take you out to get some ice cream, and...and we can have fun while we're there, okay?" Persistence filled in his eyes, and Harold cracked open an eye to see the reaction.

The girl stared at the money for a little while, unsure of what to think of the sudden question, and her eyes averted quickly to the other boy's face. He looked like he was trying too hard, she could tell right off the bat, and the fact that Harold asked her the way he did was completely...like _him._ that was. Silence filled the air between the two kids, and the wind blew softly as Rhonda kept looking from the money back to Harold. The boy's hand was starting to shake from holding it out for so long, and light giggle came out from Rhonda's lightly pinked lips.

The giggle turned from pretty soft to pretty loud in a matter of seconds, and the girl started to stand from where she was sitting to push the money back to Harold's side. Rejection filled within Harold's eyes, and the fatter boy tried very hard to keep from busting down crying there. Everything he tried to get, Rhonda and someone so he wouldn't be lonely, seemed to slip away from his visions as the wind kept blowing, lighter now than before. Harold found himself stepping back to walk away, but before he could get too far, Rhonda outstretched her hand and grasped the boy's arm tightly, as though she didn't want to let go. His heart thudded in his chest at the sudden contact, and Harold found himself looking back into the brown eyes, now filled with a loving look rather than one of disgust.

Confused, Harold could only be asking himself why as the other girl slid her pinky finger into the free hand of Harold's before smirking wider and showing off a Wellington smile.

"Alright, let's get ice cream...but for now, let _me_ pay."

Harold smiled from ear to ear as Rhonda led the two down the street to the ice cream parlor, and the boy could only stare off into the arriving sunset as the beautiful color of the reddish sun seemed to collide with the outline of Rhonda's dress. It wasn't a surprise, because to Harold, she would always be the sun to his sky.


	4. The Sisterly Bond

"But she's your sister, you have to go!"

The familiar voice could cut like a sharpened knife, and the blonde knew she should listen. However, the words spilling from her husband's mouth were almost too much to bear. He didn't understand Olga, and he most certainly couldn't comprehend the relationship the two sisters had. It wasn't as though she didn't trust him to know, she trusted him with her own damn life, but just confronting the situation and bringing it out loud to him seemed almost...unlike her. The young adult had to shake her head at the thought, trusting that just because someone of her own blood was in the hospital didn't mean she was dead, just wounded. Nothing else, so there shouldn't be a reason for her to feel as though something was wrong..right?

Helga pulled her purse over her shoulder and glanced at the taller man with stern eyes. Arnold certainly made up for what he was lacking in height, and it frustrated the woman to know that she had to look up to see him instead of the way it had always been when they were kids. Time certainly did get the best of people.

"I _have_ to go? Arnold, I am sure that Olga will be okay...it was just a slight fall, nothing too bad, and I know that she'll be fine on her own." She gripped the doorknob and wobbled slightly on her two feet in the high heels she wore. Sometimes these meetings with other lawyers were too formal, almost begging her to look half decent for a change, something the blonde knew very well she wasn't accustomed to. Damn those meetings, and also, damn the person who designed these shoes in the first place.

She felt a ginger touch appeal to her senses, and she turned her head swiftly to find a hand clutching onto her arm that was stretched towards the knob. In all honestly, if her heart wasn't beating so fast she could die on the spot, she might have told Arnold off for being so startling. Of course, there was no reasonable explanation how, but even after they have grown up and tried to tie themselves into society's world piece by piece, they still remained the same two children by heart. Not like Helga could complain, of course. However, her husband held a light, characteristic smile that melted her like ice cream, and the woman had to sigh and meet his gaze.

"What?"

"You know what, don't pretend you don't. If Olga saw _you _the hospital, you and I both know she would come running in an instant."

Helga wanted nothing more than to scoff at that statement, but it was true. It was true enough for the blonde to actually consider visiting her, even for just a day. While Olga and her younger sister didn't really get along too well, at least more for Helga rather than the other way around, they were still sisters, such as what Arnold said. However, the woman couldn't resist her husband's piercing stare, and those deep green eyes of his. She had to submit to the idea.

"Fine, we'll go..." She replied.

Her husband smirked victoriously and was about to leave Helga to the door, but a certain hand came around and grabbed the tie Arnold was wearing, pulling it down and smirking as well. She and him both knew getting away with something such as that didn't come free.

"So, what am I going to get in exchange?" Her voice whispered, and Helga simply decided to become fashionably late for the meeting.

The hospital was awfully small. Apparently, what happened to Olga was completely different than what Helga had presumed. Originally, Helga thought Olga slipped and fell, but it turns out that Olga was actually in a car accident a few miles away from where the hospital was, so the couple had to drive a couple hours to meet her there. The building was on a country side, not too big in size but big enough for people to come in, and it didn't appear too busy at the moment. As soon as Helga and Arnold had stepped in, a nurse rushed up to them, completely at their service. The nurse told the two that Olga was in the first room on the second floor, and without a moment of hesitation, the two were standing face to face in front of the door. They exchanged looks of nervousness as the doctor opened the door and found the two visitors staring back at him with anxious eyes, and the doctor smiled light-heartedly.

"I suppose you must be the sister?" The doctor asked, and Helga nodded before a confused look came into her eyes.

"Yes, I am...but wait, how did you know that-?"

"Olga is certainly a talkative one...she talks about you a lot," the doctor said, pulling out his clipboard and writing something on it. Helga could hear her husband chuckling lightly from the doctor's words, and the sister blushed slightly. She hoped Olga didn't say anything too embarrassing.

After a minute of simply talking and such, the doctor finally gave the two permission to enter the room to speak with Olga, and the blonde girl sighed reluctantly before opening the door and letting her husband follow her into the room. They neared the bed the girl was lying in before the younger sister had to maintain her strength as she glanced upon the face.

Due to the accident, Olga was pretty beat up. Her right eye looked slightly bruised, and her face appeared sleepless. She looked as though she hadn't been eating or sleeping a lot, and Helga honestly felt really sympathetic towards her sister. She didn't think the accident would be this bad, but now that it was, the younger of the two couldn't put to words how much she actually wanted her sister to feel better. Arnold lightly placed his hand on his wife's shoulder to comfort her, and eyes of the wounded girl in the hospital bed fluttered opened. She turned her head to find her sister and brother-in-law looking down at her, and Olga smiled with familiarity of the faces.

"Helga...my dear sister," Olga whispered lightly, daring not to try to raise her voice of happiness simply because she didn't want to bruise herself any further. However, the light was shining in her eyes, and her sister smiled back softly.

"Hey, Olga...it's been a while."

Helga placed her hand gently on her sister's, and she no longer regretted coming to see her. She actually had to thank her own husband for bringing here, because it always seemed as though Olga helped Helga out whenever she needed someone to be out there for her, so it seemed as though Olga needed the help, now. The two sisters smiled lovingly at each other, and the tears actually started to come down from Helga's eyes, something that usually never occurred due to the woman's stubbornness. Seeing her sister looking as though she was in so much pain was something that she just couldn't really bear with, and the strong clutch of her husband's hand on her shoulder got tighter as her vulnerability seemed to show. Olga, confused, looked up and laughed weakly.

"Oh, precious baby sister...please don't cry, I will be alright, the doctor says I will be out of this bed in less than a week."

Helga wiped the tears with her free hand, not even considering letting go of Olga's, and the younger girl simply smiled widely at hearing the good news. However, this didn't change the fact that she was hurt in the first place, so of course Helga was going to be upset.

"Oh, baby sister...I love you." Olga whispered, before lightly shutting her eyes again and appearing as though she was slipping off into sleep. Helga's blue eyes widened softly at the confession, not really sure when the last time those three words decided to come from her sister's lips, and once a light snoring could be heard, the husband made a gesture towards his wife to leave Olga be alone for a while to rest. Helga nodded, appreciating her husband for being with her through this, and the two lovers intertwined hands as they left the hospital room.

They awaited outside, with Helga leaning up against the wall and Arnold watching her do so, checking his phone every now and then for work related messages. While the silence and the constant ringing of office phones filled the air around them, Helga couldn't help but wonder if Olga was really going to be alright. After all, she did look as though the accident hurt her way more than something that could be fixed by medicine and good rest. She wanted to stay to make sure her older sister was going to be fine, and the light, warming look within Arnold's eyes showed Helga that she had done something right. The young woman looked back towards the man and smirked slightly, reading him like a book.

"_What_?"

"I was just thinking about how amazing it was how you two could share a bond such as that. Just the fact that you two care so much about each other...it's really warming to see that."

The blonde woman looked with an eyebrow raised and her smile widening. She couldn't really guess where Arnold came up with these things, but she simply walked over to where her husband stood and kissed him lightly on the cheek, before her blue eyes mixed into his and shared a loving look.

"Yeah, well...you know that I have a soft spot for the people I love the most."

Arnold and Helga simply shared another kiss before visiting Olga again later that afternoon.

**Thank you guys so much for the love this story is getting! Wouldn't be doing this if it weren't for you guys! :) Thank you!**


	5. A Moon and A Dream

Normally, Helga loved stargazing.

It was just one of those things that was inspiring to her. She would love to sit outside and just stare up the full orb for hours on end, and some poetry might slip out every now and then, but for the most part, it was so breathtakingly gorgeous she couldn't pull her eyes away. The stars seemed to dance around it, almost as though it was completely ritualistic, and the sky never, ever seemed to disappoint the blonde girl with its artistic flavors. There would always be something different she would notice, and while there were a lot of familiar things, she always seemed to bring something new to the young girl's mind. She thought that anybody who didn't like stargazing was missing out on a lot, because it certainly was a lot to miss out on whenever you can't look up at the night horizon and think about things.

Tonight was certainly not an exception. She enjoyed looking up and seeing all of these beautiful things, but she was even happier that a certain somebody was with her. Her boyfriend was beside her, the boyfriend of three months that is, and their fingers were intertwined. Her heartbeat was satisfied with the constant drumming and the blood rushing to the head, but it wasn't as if she was going to complain or anything. She wouldn't want to do anything else but spend this time with the one she loved, and she simply squeezed the other hand at the simple thought. She could hear a chuckle as a response.

"You know, I actually had a dream a while back about this night," she heard him say, and she turned her head slightly to see that same loving look in his eyes, but she also saw the flicker of a look with the boy wanting to tell a story. She was completely and utterly intrigued.

"Well, what is it?" She whispered, already impatient, and the boy smiled wider.

"Actually, it wasn't this particular night in general...it was more like, I saw a girl looking up at the moon...and she was actually reciting poetry, same as you do."

Helga turned to where she could face the boy on her side. She rested her head in the palm of her hand, her elbow planted into the solid ground, and she raised an eyebrow.

"Didn't you know you dreamed about me, football head," the girl teased, and the boy laughed at the girl's sense of humor.

"What and you didn't do the same for me?" He asked, receiving a playful punch in return.

The two lovers remained on the ground staring up at the sky, not really saying anything but enjoying the fresh and warming company, until Helga began to think about what her boyfriend said. She turned her face towards Arnold and pouted, slightly jealous but at the same time, more and more fascinated.

"Was this girl prettier than me?" She asked, obviously just kidding around in a girly fashion, and a smirk came onto the boy's face. He had to admit that, when his girlfriend asked these kinds of things, she was more cute than ever.

"She actually looked a lot like you...she was taller than me, of course, and her eyes were blue, like yours...also, she had this great sense of humor...she was actually just like you, only you're much prettier," he said, earning a respectful, loving gaze from the woman lying besides him.

The two could only smile and laugh before Helga leaned in and pecked his boyfriend softly on his cheek, blushing slightly as she did so.

"I love you, football head."

**Sorry this one was so short...promise the next one will be longer ~ :) Anyways, thanks for all the reviews and the feedback!**


	6. We're Not Children, Anymore

"...are you thinking about?"

"No."

It was an instinctive impulse, something that the boy had gotten very used to, as the poster on the side of the wall continued to lounge into their minds. Gerald wasn't sure of what to make of it, it seemed really out of the blue and haphazard with all of the rest of the posters related to something completely different, but he could sense the strange longing in his friend's green eyes, and he didn't know what was playing in his mind. There was the familiar picture of Washington, pointing his finger and giving off a strange sense of authority towards the adolescents, saying that he wanted them. It was a war-related picture, and Gerald could only sigh as Arnold turned his back and took another glance towards it.

To be really honest, Gerald wasn't even too interested in the concept of war. He found it funny, that people would enjoy filling up their weapons and shooting the living daylights out of each other for the sake of protecting their own land. Of course, he would never tell this to his friend, who was actually considering signing up for a while now, but this still rose a very strange feeling in his chest, as though it simply wasn't right.

"You know what could happen if you actually went though, man. I don't want you to have to face any of that or anything..." Gerald began, leaning onto the same wall the poster was taped upon and faced his friend with the sternest expression that the blonde had found on his face in quite some time. Arnold looked back casually, as though he was well aware of the consequences if he dared to sign any kind of paper regarding entering the military, but it looked as though he was more for it rather than against it. He sighed, looking back towards the poster and feeling immediately intimidated by the rational gaze from the deceased president.

"I know."

"...besides, how do you think He-?"

"Helga...," Arnold started, his eyes lowering from the poster for a second and facing the ground. His heart started to pump fiercely in his chest, obviously concerning that he would really miss her if he actually thought this through and wanted to participate in the war, but there was a part of him that knew she would understand. After all, she always did before, didn't she?

"Besides, what about me, huh? Do you even know how I'd feel if you entered that bloodied battleground...nothing but a weapon out of ammo, cornered by the dirty, pieces of shit known as-."

"Gerald. Please, I want to make this decision knowing that I have a friend that has my back...besides, I'm not in it for the sake of killing people, I just was to protect the people I care about most."

"If you want us to be protected, leave it to the other people! Don't put yourself in this situation, please! What if...," Gerald stopped, his breath sticking wetly to the back of his dehydrated throat, "what if I never see you again?"

The wind rippled through the city around them, leaving a simple awkward gaze between the two young adults as the rest of the city noises seemed to fade from behind them. Never had the blonde man seen his friend become so vulnerable, even whenever they had to rescue the neighborhood from a time so long before, so to this sight before him...it was certainly different. Arnold had to take a deep breath, his own voice shaking from the thoughts of only seeing this precious city leave his memories, maybe permanently, and he looked back towards his friend in sorrow.

"There's a...a good chance that I might not be coming back. However, please...just please be aware I am doing this for our country Gerald. If I didn't go out there and save countless amounts of lives...who would?"

The man had to swallow before continuing, feel the abnormal rush of tears come to his eyes but refused to let the other man see.

"We're not children anymore, Gerald. There are certain responsibilities we must make...and for me, this is something I am called to do. I can't just sit back and let our country be terrorized...we have to do something about it, and I feel like...I feel like this opportunity belongs to me."

Gerald looked at his friend dead in the eye and simply shook his head. It was suicidal, the man thought as he reached out and placed a hand on the other man's shoulder.

"Okay...I am with you if you want to do this. I understand why you would...but I don't know what I would do if my friend was murdered in battle."

Smiling, Arnold nodded before rushing a hug onto the other boy, and the two men relished in this moment as the tape broke off from the poster and it fluttered against the wall, almost as though a star-spangled song was playing in the near distance.

**Sorry about the shortness of this particular one-shot, and I am also sorry for the lack of updates. Thanks to everyone who has cared to review, I really appreciate it! **


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